PHY Error Indication Messaging

ABSTRACT

This disclosure introduces an advancement to the error indication message to provide detailed information about errors in configurations that are arriving from the Layer 2 to the Layer 1. A method is disclosed, comprising: performing physical layer control (PHY) of a wireless signal at a Layer 1 (L1) software module; performing medium access control (MAC) of the wireless signal at a Layer 2 (L2) software module; providing an application programming interface between the L1 software module and the L2 software module for receiving L1 configuration messages and providing error codes to the L2 software module; receiving a L1 configuration message at a Layer 1 software module; and providing an enhanced error code progressively from a L1 software module to the Layer 2 (L2) software module.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application in a continuation of, and claims the benefit ofpriority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 of U.S. application Ser. No. 17/009,638,filed Sep. 1, 2020, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.16/196,763, titled “PHY Error Indication Messaging”, having attorneydocket no. PWS-71868US02, and filed Nov. 20, 2018, which is acontinuation of, and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. §120 of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/479,273, titled “PHY ErrorIndication Messaging”, having attorney docket no. PWS-71868US01, andfiled Apr. 4, 2017, which itself claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/318,029, havingattorney docket no. PWS-71868US00, filed Apr. 4, 2016, and entitled“Advancement of FAPI Error Indication Messaging for 4G Systems,” each ofwhich are each hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for allpurposes. Additionally, U.S. Pat. App. Pub. Nos. US20140086120,US20140092765, US20140133456, US20150045063, and US20150078167 arehereby incorporated by reference in their entirety for all purposes.Small Cell Forum, Release 5, LTE SCAPI, March 2015 is also herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

Fast Application Programming Interface, better known as FAPI, is astandard developed by the LTE Femto Forum in which exchange ofinformation between the two layers is performed via certain messagestructures. 4G systems of today, such as those that use the 3GPP LongTerm Evolution (LTE) standard, can make use of this FAPI standard inorder to exchange configurations between different layers in the radiosoftware stack, as well as reporting indications and errors upward inthe stack. FAPI, like other APIs, is a set of routines, rules orprotocols that are used to build or connect software components. TheFAPI standard provides a clear picture of how a LTE-based layered systemis interconnected within itself and how information exchange is carriedout as a whole.

SUMMARY

Systems and methods for error indication messaging are disclosed.

In a first embodiment, a method is disclosed, comprising: performingphysical layer control (PHY) of a wireless signal at a Layer 1 (L1)software module; performing medium access control (MAC) of the wirelesssignal at a Layer 2 (L2) software module; providing an applicationprogramming interface between the L1 software module and the L2 softwaremodule for receiving L1 configuration messages and providing error codesto the L2 software module; receiving a L1 configuration message at aLayer 1 software module; and providing a progressively generatedenhanced error code from a L1 software module to the Layer 2 (L2)software module, the enhanced error code based on progressive errorchecking of the received L1 configuration message at the L1 softwaremodule prior to installation as a configuration for the L1 softwaremodule.

Providing the enhanced error code may further comprise performingboundary range error checking of each parameter sent in the L1configuration message against an acceptable range for the eachparameter. Providing the enhanced error code may further comprisesubsequently performing error checking of a number of requested downlink(DL) or uplink (UL) protocol data units (PDUs) sent in the L1configuration message against a supported number of DL or UL PDUssupported by the L1 software module. Providing the enhanced error codemay further comprise subsequently performing error checking of ascheduling configuration sent in the L1 configuration message against acomputation capacity constraint of the L1 software module. Providing theenhanced error code may further comprise subsequently performing errorchecking of each configuration instruction sent in the L1 configurationmessage to identify pointer violation or memory alignment issues.Providing the enhanced error code may further comprise subsequentlyperforming error checking of calculated parameters based on parsingparameters sent in the L1 configuration message, and of a schedulinglimitation of the L1 software module.

Providing the enhanced error code may further comprise: performingboundary range error checking of each parameter sent in the L1configuration message against an acceptable range for the eachparameter; performing error checking of a number of requested downlink(DL) or uplink (UL) protocol data units (PDUs) sent in the L1configuration message against a supported number of DL or UL PDUssupported by the L1 software module; performing error checking of ascheduling configuration sent in the L1 configuration message against acomputation capacity constraint of the L1 software module; performingerror checking of each configuration instruction sent in the L1configuration message to identify pointer violation or memory alignmentissues; and performing error checking of calculated parameters based onparsing parameters sent in the L1 configuration message, and of ascheduling limitation of the L1 software module. These steps may beperformed in any order. The method may further comprise creating theenhanced error code based on a union of multiple error checking results,thereby providing error codes reflecting a plurality of errors in the L1configuration message.

The method may further comprise creating an error record in a database,the error record being the L1 configuration message associated with theenhanced error code. The method may further comprise correcting asubsequent L1 configuration message based on the error record. Themethod may further comprise storing a corrected L1 configuration messagein association with the error record, and substituting a subsequent L1configuration message with the corrected L1 configuration message priorto providing the corrected L1 configuration message to the L1 softwaremodule. The application programming interface may be a Fast ApplicationProgramming Interface (FAPI). The L1 software module and the L2 softwaremodule may be located at an LTE base station, and wherein receiving theL1 configuration message and providing the enhanced error code may beperformed at the LTE base station. The L1 software module and the L2software module may be located at a 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, Wi-Fi, ormulti-radio access technology (multi-RAT) base station, and whereinreceiving the L1 configuration message and providing the enhanced errorcode may be performed at the 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, Wi-Fi, or multi-RAT basestation.

In a second embodiment, a Long Term Evolution (LTE) base station isdisclosed, comprising: a processor coupled to a radio transceiver; amemory coupled to the processor; a Layer 1 (L1) software module,configured to execute on the processor, for providing physical layer(PHY) capability; and a Layer 2 (L2) software module, configured toexecute on the processor, providing medium access control (MAC) layercapability,

The L1 software module may be configured to: provide an applicationprogramming interface between a Layer 1 (L1) software module and a Layer2 (L2) software module for receiving L1 configuration messages andproviding error codes to the L2 software module; receive a L1configuration message at a Layer 1 software module; and provide anenhanced error code from a L1 software module to the Layer 2 (L2)software module, the enhanced error code based on progressive errorchecking of the received L1 configuration message at the L1 softwaremodule prior to installation as a configuration for the L1 softwaremodule.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of physical layer 1 (PHY) logical states,in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of bit fields for error codes inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an enhanced base station, in accordancewith some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION I. Introduction

This disclosure introduces an advancement to the error indicationmessage to provide detailed information about errors in configurationsthat are arriving from the Layer 2 to the Layer 1. Specifically, thisdisclosure describes an Advancement in the Error Indication Messages fora LTE based system which would relay the information from Layer 1 toLayer 2 about the configurations which have encountered an error andalso providing details of the area of code in which the issue was foundin Layer 1. The Layer 2 can utilize this information to avoid suchconfigurations to be sent down to Layer 1 and to instead send the nextbest known configuration and to avoid any crash scenarios. These detailscan also provide a detailed level of debugging on the Layer 1 levelreducing the debugging time allowing more efficiency by detecting andpinpointing issues or bugs. This detailed information can also beutilized to prevent Layer 2 to send such configurations to Layer 1, andto provide help and support for troubleshooting problems with suchconfigurations. A database coupled to the Layer 2 module may log suchwrong configurations with timestamps, which can be useful for debuggingpurpose by pinpointing exactly at which location in the Layer 1 theissues are found.

As disclosed below, the error indication message can be modified toprovide better and more detailed information about the errors beingreported, which can help developers and testers to locate issues morequickly or in real time, rather than forcing them to capture and analyzethe logs. This will provide a benefit in the debugging process byreducing the overall time. The paper only discuss one of the manydifferent possible ways this error indication message can be modified toprovide improved functionality, and can be modified henceforth otherLayer 1 specific designs.

The paper is spilt into various sections. An introduction to LTE basedFAPI message exchange and the details are covered in Sections II.Section III introduces the benefits of advanced Error ProtectionMessaging. Section IV provides details on the Advancement of the ErrorProtection Message about the structure and how it will relay theinformation to Layer 2. Section V provides a detailed example of theoverall Error Protection Messaging.

II. Introduction to FAPI for LTE 4G Systems

The LTE FAPI developed by the Femto Forum describes the FAPI standard bydividing it into two sections: (1) Providing a description of typicalprocedures which will occur between the L1 and L2/L3 software; and (2)Providing the definition of the L1 API messages. In this section a briefdescription of the two sections is covered.

L1 & L2/L3 Procedures

This section gives an overview of the procedures which use the L1 API.These procedures are split into two groups, namely, configurationprocedures and sub-frame procedures. Configuration procedures handle themanagement of the PHY layer and are expected to occur infrequently.Sub-frame procedures determine the structure of each 1 ms sub-frame andoperate with a 1 ms periodicity. The configuration procedures supportedby the L1 API are: Initialization; Termination; Restart; Reset; andError notification. These procedures will move the Layer 1 through theIDLE, CONFIGURED and RUNNING states, as shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of physical layer 1 (PHY) logical states,in accordance with some embodiments. State 101 is an IDLE state of a PHYlayer. State 102 is a CONFIGURED state of a PHY layer. State 103 is aRUNNING state of a PHY layer. The PHY layer remains in IDLE state 101until it receives a CONFIG.request, which causes a state change to theCONFIGURED state 102. (If a PARAM.request is sent to a PHY in an IDLEstate 101, the request is handled and the PHY remains in IDLE state101.) The PHY layer enters the CONFIGURED state 102, and may be furtherconfigured, as shown by the state change arrow for CONFIG.request fromCONFIGURED state 102 to itself. Once the PHY layer is fully configured,the PHY layer may receive a START.request to cause the PHY to enter intoa RUNNING state 103. The PHY may accept CONFIG.requests in the RUNNINGstate, to be reconfigured on the fly. The PHY may also receiveSTOP.requests, to return to CONFIGURED state 102 and to stoptransmitting or receiving, as appropriate.

A list of the L1 API configuration messages which are valid in eachstate is given a Table 1.

TABLE 1 L1 API configuration messages Idle State Configured StateRunning State PARAM.request PARAM.request CONFIG.request CONFIG.requestCONFIG.request START.request STOP.request

L1 API Messages

The general message format of the L1 API is shown in Table 3, where itcan be seen that each L1 API message consists of a header followed by amessage body. The generic header consists of a message type ID, amessage body length and a vendor-specific body length. The current listof message types is given in Table 2. The L1 API messages follow astandard naming convention where: all request messages are sent from theL2/L3 software to the PHY; all response messages are sent from the PHYto the L2/L3 software. These are sent in response to a request; and allindication messages are sent from the PHY to the L2/L3 software. Theseare sent asynchronously.

III. Benefits of Advanced Error Indication Messages

The current FAPI error indication message provides certain details toLayer 2 at various levels. However, it has been observed during thedevelopment stages that the details provided to the Layer 2 in the errorindication message is not sufficient to pinpoint the precise issue,which results in a great amount of round trip time debugging. Amodification to the error indication message is proposed to ease thisissue. The details of the modification are provided in section IV.

Wrong configurations or misconfigurations can occur due to variousreasons (i.e. Layer 2 sending wrong parameters, corruption on memory onLayer 1 etc.), and may result in serious impacts on the overall system.For instance, in a scenario when a wrong configuration arrives at theLayer 1 the Layer 1 may not be in a position to process the datareceived. This may result in drop in throughput, further causing CRCfailure and retransmission. Or as another example, misconfigurations atL1 (from L2) can cause the system to crash, leading to rebooting of thenode and re-attaching of UEs to the node, which can affect overallsystem and network performance. Or as another example, in a case whenmultiple CRC failures occur and the system has reached its maximumretries, the User Equipment (UE) may move into the link loss state. TheUE going into link loss would require a re-network entry in order for itto attach back onto the network. This may result in wasted resources andmay reduce the efficiency of the network system.

Unlike the current error reporting mechanism from PHY layer, whichtypically provides only general information to the MAC layer, thedisclosed design can give more accurate information regarding whichparameter went wrong. For example, in ulconfig, if a modulation codingscheme (MCS) value with, for example, correct values of 2, 4, 6, becomescorrupted due to any reason, then the data is not decoded. If thishappens without this disclosed method, it may be difficult to catch theissue. If the disclosed method is used it will send the unique errorcode to MAC. For example. for ulconfig the 32 error code bit field canbe designed as follows: error code=(ERROR | FATAL | LTE | PUSCH |PUSCH_PARSE | ERROR_MCS).

Similarly, for example, in dlconfig, if a number of layers does notmatch a supported number of antennas, then the DL data may partiallydecode or not decode at all. This kind of issue is sometimes very trickyto resolve. And based on experience these errors are due to improperconfiguration. For example, an exemplary error code for dlconfig couldbe designed as follows: (ERROR | FATAL | LTE | PDSCH | PDSCH_PARSE |ERROR_NUM_LAYER).

Many issues may thus be solved more quickly If we have accurateinformation at right time, avoiding spending a great deal of effort toresolve the wrong configuration issues. Further information about theseexemplary error codes appears below.

IV. Details of Advanced Error Indication Messages

In some embodiments, an Advanced Error Indication message can provideadditional information which can help to pinpoint the location at whichthe issue was found in the Layer 1. The Advance Error Indication messagecan also be extended to a further use by providing a support over Layer2, where such issue faced at Layer 1 can be recorded onto a database.This database can be useful to the Layer 2 scheduler where the futureconfigurations can be compared with the configurations in databasebefore being applied. If such a configuration is found then the nextbest configuration could be applied to avoid any further issues on theLayer 1.

The Error Indication msg have two stage of reporting, first is errorcode and other is sbl_error_msg_body. The error code is able to sendlimited information. Where our design upgrades the error reportingmechanism, it is exploited and adds a new hierarchy insbl_error_msg_body as comp error, shown below in Table 2 and Table 3.The added changes in the error indication message provide space toinclude a new error code design described below.

In some embodiments, the advanced error indication message can bedivided into 5 levels of error protection:

Error level-1: It covers all parameters coming via FAPI. In this levelwe have boundary checks of all the parameters coming within a FAPImessage (Only DL and UL FAPI parameters), the Cell config parametersreturns Invalid message this range checking is not part of errorlevel-1.

Error level-2: It covers the checks on total number of downlink (DL) anduplink (UL) packet data units (PDUs) supported by L1.

Error level-3: It covers the scheduling limitations/tradeoffs that existin L1 based on the computation capacity or design. For example, L1cannot process the Random Access Channel (RACH) and Sounding ReferenceSignal (SRS) together in a single subframe (SF), so accordingly a checkmay be placed such that when higher layers try to schedule RACH and SRStogether then L1 will report appropriate error.

Error level-4: It covers the error that exists at component levellimitation which can be pointer violation or memory alignment issues.

Error level-5: It covers the error that exists at component levellimitation check. It may be due to calculated parameters based on theFAPI parsing parameters or scheduling related problem in L1 component.

In some embodiments, the ERROR.indication message is reported back bythe L1 to the MAC in each subframe procedure using applicable limitederror code for each messages. If the L2/L3 software receives anERROR.indication message for DL_CONFIG.request, UL_CONFIG.request,HI_DCI0.request or TX.request, it should assume that the UE did notreceive data and control sent in this subframe.

In some embodiments, the L1 API message formats for the ERROR.indicationMessage are shown below in Table 2.

TABLE 2 Error Indication Message Body Field Type Description msgStatusFAPI_MESSAGE_STATUS_T Indicate the message status message_id UINT8Indicate which message received by the PHY has an error. padding[3]UINT8 To make error code aligned to 32-bits error code UINT32 The errorcode sbl_error_msg_body union Error code dependent values. The format ofthese bytes is dependent on the error code. See Below Tables for details

An exemplary message body is shown below in Table 3.

TABLE 3 sbl_error_msg_body Message Body Field Sub-Field Type Descriptionsfn_error received_sfn_sf UINT8 Received subframe number expected_sfn_sfUINT8 Expected subframe number pdu_error sub_error_Code UINT8Configuration or component level error code direction UINT8 Indicates ifthis error was in a DL subframe configuration or an UL subframeconfiguration. rnti UINT16 The RNTI in the received PDU. pdu_type UINT8The PDU Type parameter specified in both DL subframe configuration andUL subframe configuration. padding[1] UINT8 Padding bytes hi_errorsub_error_code UINT8 Configuration or component level error codephich_lowest_ul_rb_index UINT8 PHICH lowest UL RB index tx_errorsub_error_code UINT8 Configuration or component level error codepdu_index UINT8 PDU index comp_error sub_error_code UINT32 Componentlevel error code for protection level 4 and 5

In some embodiments, the sub error message body has passed second levelof error code. But it has limited information passed to L2, its moregeneric code. To remedy this, the sub error code can provide an extralevel of information about what sub error has been hit out of 4classified errors (sfn_error, pdu_error, hi_error or tx_error). So toimprove the error protection mechanism, providing more and accurateerror indication is helpful so the MAC can take the decision moreeffectively. Apart from the boundary checks, error checking can sendboard-specific limitations to MAC so it will avoid combinations whichthe PHY is unable to support. For example, if a number of requestedpacket data units (PDUs; like BCH PDUs, PDSCH PDUs etc.) is wrong in anincoming configuration message, this can be reported back to MAC in asubframe (SF). All DL and UL config parameters can be boundary checkedin this way and may have unique error codes passed back, so MAC canconfigure correct one or take necessary action to avoid it.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of bit fields for error codes inaccordance with some embodiments. An error message, in some embodiments,is a bit vector including sections 201 through 208. At section 201, themost-significant bit (MSB) is set to 1 for all errors (Bit 31).

At section 202, the next two bits are used to indicate a type of theerror (Bit 30 and 29), with the following permitted values:

Information (01): This error code type are Informative only, which isnot Introducing any major error but useful to convoy it to L2 forscheduling the parameter next time. This error code can be overwrittenby both the Non-Fatal and Fatal error type.

Non-Fatal (10): These error code types are not breaking the system, butviolation of the parameter for the current SF. This error code can beoverwritten by the Fatal error type.

Fatal (11): These error code types are able to break the L1-SW, thiserror code is highest priority. If this error type is generated, thesystem may need to return immediately, and no further processing will bedone.

At section 203, the next three bits for what technology the error codeis generating (Bit 26 to 28). At section 204, the next five bits is usedfor identifying the component. These are unique values for each module(Bit 21 to 25). At section 205, the next three bits for the sub modulerepresentation, which can be used manager/kernel levels (Bits 18 to 20).Below Modules is using those 3 bits to declare its sub modules. Atsection 206, the next nine bits are reserved. At section 207, the 8thbit is used as flag for next 2 byte error code. It is set as ‘1’. Atsection 208, for the last 8 bits from LSB, these bits are used for errorcode, allowing for 256 unique error codes which, in some embodiments,may belong to each PHY error-checking submodule.

In some embodiments, there are two software subsystems used to generatethe error codes for the new API: an encoder (Error code generator onLayer 1) and a decoder (Error code decoder on Layer 2). The job ofEncoder is to fill the 32-bit field of the Error Code. Layer 1 is brokendown into various modules and sub-modules. Each module and sub-moduleshas a respective bit field in the 32-bit field of the Error Code. Eachmodule and sub-module performs a error checks and when an error occursthe Encoder is called where the respective error bit field for thatmodule or sub-module is populated. The Decoder's job at the Layer 2would be to process this error code received. It would have theknowledge of the respective bit fields of each module. TheImplementation at the Layer1 will be very lightweight. It is assumed notto take more than 4-5K of core cycles. Currently error Indication issent by PHY for each subframe If an error gets hit and travel to MACLayer. The error logs currently don't get sent to the core network orlogging server. However this is not such limitations not to send theseerror logs, if there is a requirement it can be done.

V. Error Protection Message Example

Error Level 4 Example:

if ( (spm_tdp_dynamic == NULL) || (spm_tdp_static == NULL)) {  error =(ERROR | FATAL | SPM_PRACH | SPM_PRACH_TDP | ERROR_NULL_POINTER); return error; } IF4_samp_ant0 = spm_tdp_dynamic−>IF4_samples_ant0; if (( IS_ALIGNED_SPLIB(IF4_samp_ant0, ALIGNED_8_BYTES) == 0) ) {  error =(ERROR | NON_FATAL |SPM_PRACH|SPM_PRACH_TDP| ERR_4_PRACH_TDP_NOT_ALIGN);}

Error level 2 Example: in some embodiments, for example, if L1 cannotprocess the RACH and SRS together in a single SF, accordingly a check isplaced such that when higher layers try to schedule RACH and SRStogether then L1 will report an appropriate error.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method, in accordance with some embodiments.At step 301, the method may receive a L1 configuration message from ahigher layer. The PHY may be in an IDLE, or CONFIGURED, or RUNNINGstate. Depending on which state the PHY is in, different error checkingsteps may be performed. If no error is detected processing continues tostep 302. In some embodiments, if an error is detected, or if an erroris detected that is serious enough to stop execution (e.g., a fatalerror), execution may stop and may proceed to step 308. Certain linesare shown in FIG. 3 as dotted lines to indicate that they are optional,as in some embodiments, it may be possible to avoid stopping execution.At step 302, the method may perform boundary range error checking forall parameters requested by the configuration message. This does notrequire coordination with other parameters already configured. If noerror is detected processing continues to step 303. In some embodiments,if an error is detected, or if an error is detected that is seriousenough to stop execution, execution may stop and may proceed to step308.

At step 303, the method may check number of requested PDUs for UL and DLagainst the capabilities of the PHY, e.g., to make sure that the numberof requested PDUs does not exceed what is capable by the PHY. If noerror is detected processing continues to step 304. In some embodiments,if an error is detected, or if an error is detected that is seriousenough to stop execution, execution may stop and may proceed to step308. At step 304, the method may check scheduling configuration againstcomputation capacity. For example, the PHY may be unable to perform allof the configuration steps, such as the example where the L1 isrequested to process both RACH and SRS together in one subframe. If noerror is detected processing continues to step 305. In some embodiments,if an error is detected, or if an error is detected that is seriousenough to stop execution, execution may stop and may proceed to step308. At step 305, the method may identify pointer violation or memoryalignment issues based on component-level limitations or constraints. Ifno error is detected processing continues to step 306. In someembodiments, if an error is detected, or if an error is detected that isserious enough to stop execution, execution may stop and may proceed tostep 308.

At step 306, the method may component level limitation check, includingchecks based on calculated parameters. This can include comparing newconfiguration parameters with currently-active configuration parameters.If no error is detected processing continues to step 307. At step 307,if no errors have been detected, the method may set and apply theerror-checked configuration. However, if at this stage any of the errorconditions have been triggered, at step 308, the method may generate andsend one or more specific error codes to the higher layer, e.g., the L2or MAC layer, including in some embodiments a union of all errorconditions detected in prior steps. It is possible to include anycombination of steps 301-306 for error checking, and to incorporate anycombination of errors generated by steps 301-306, including errors fromevery step, errors from no steps (i.e., successful execution), or asingle error from a single step. Use of multiple error checking stepscan be understood to be progressive error checking, as the multipleerror checking steps progressively create the error code. In someembodiments, these can be performed in any order. The error code may beconstructed and sent in one bit vector to the MAC layer.

VI. Exemplary Hardware

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an enhanced eNodeB, in accordance withsome embodiments. Enhanced eNodeB 400 may include processor 402,processor memory 404 in communication with the processor, basebandprocessor 406, and baseband processor memory 408 in communication withthe baseband processor. Enhanced eNodeB 400 may also include first radiotransceiver 410 and second radio transceiver 412, internal universalserial bus (USB) port 416, and subscriber information module card (SIMcard) 418 coupled to USB port 414. In some embodiments, the second radiotransceiver 412 itself may be coupled to USB port 416, andcommunications from the baseband processor may be passed through USBport 416.

A self-organizing network (SON) module 430 may also be included, whichmay include a database (not shown), in some embodiments, or which may bein communication with a coordination server (not shown), in someembodiments, or both, in some embodiments.

Processor 402 and baseband processor 406 are in communication with oneanother. Processor 402 may perform routing functions, and may determineif/when a switch in network configuration is needed. Baseband processor406 may generate and receive radio signals for both radio transceivers410 and 412, based on instructions from processor 402. In someembodiments, processors 402 and 406 may be on the same physical logicboard. In other embodiments, they may be on separate logic boards.

The first radio transceiver 410 may be a radio transceiver capable ofproviding LTE eNodeB functionality, and may be capable of higher powerand multi-channel OFDMA. The second radio transceiver 412 may be a radiotransceiver capable of providing LTE UE functionality. Both transceivers410 and 412 are capable of receiving and transmitting on one or more LTEbands. In some embodiments, either or both of transceivers 410 and 412may be capable of providing both LTE eNodeB and LTE UE functionality.Transceiver 410 may be coupled to processor 402 via a PeripheralComponent Interconnect-Express (PCI-E) bus, and/or via a daughtercard.Transceiver 410 may have its L1 (PHY), L2 (MAC), and other layersimplemented using software modules that are configured to run onprocessor 402, as described herein.

Transceiver 412 may be for providing LTE UE functionality, in effectemulating a user equipment, it may be connected via the same ordifferent PCI-E bus, or by a USB bus, and may also be coupled to SIMcard 418. SIM card 418 may provide information required forauthenticating the simulated UE to the evolved packet core (EPC). Whenno access to an operator EPC is available, a local EPC on the enhancedeNodeB itself (not shown) may be used, or another local EPC on thenetwork may be used. This information may be stored within the SIM card,and may include one or more of an international mobile equipmentidentity (IMEI), international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI), orother parameter needed to identify a UE. Special parameters may also bestored in the SIM card or provided by the processor during processing toidentify to a target eNodeB that device 400 is not an ordinary UE butinstead is a special UE for providing backhaul to device 400.

Alternatively, transceiver 412 may be another radio access technology(RAT) radio, such as a 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, or Wi-Fi radio. Transceivers 410and 412 may have different RATs or the same RAT. As each RAT and as eachradio has its own PHY, the concepts and methods described herein couldbe used for 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, or Wi-Fi PHY and MAC layer error messaging,or a combination of multiple RAT layer error messaging modules.

Wired backhaul or wireless backhaul may be used. Wired backhaul may bean Ethernet-based backhaul (including Gigabit Ethernet), or afiber-optic backhaul connection, or a cable-based backhaul connection,in some embodiments. Additionally, wireless backhaul may be provided inaddition to wireless transceivers 410 and 412, which may be Wi-Fi802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ad/ah, Bluetooth, ZigBee, microwave (includingline-of-sight microwave), or another wireless backhaul connection. Anyof the wired and wireless connections may be used for either access orbackhaul, according to identified network conditions and needs, and maybe under the control of processor 402 for reconfiguration.

Other elements and/or modules may also be included, such as a homeeNodeB, a local gateway (LGW), or another module. Additional radioamplifiers, radio transceivers and/or wired network connections may alsobe included.

Processor 402 may identify the appropriate network configuration, andmay perform routing of packets from one network interface to anotheraccordingly. Processor 402 may use memory 404, in particular to store arouting table to be used for routing packets. Baseband processor 406 mayperform operations to generate the radio frequency signals fortransmission or retransmission by both transceivers 410 and 412.Baseband processor 406 may also perform operations to decode signalsreceived by transceivers 410 and 412. Baseband processor 406 may usememory 408 to perform these tasks.

In some embodiments, the radio transceivers described herein may be basestations compatible with a Long Term Evolution (LTE) radio transmissionprotocol or air interface. The LTE-compatible base stations may beeNodeBs. In addition to supporting the LTE protocol, the base stationsmay also support other air interfaces, such as UMTS/HSPA, CDMA/CDMA2000,GSM/EDGE, GPRS, EVDO, other 3G/2G, legacy TDD, or other air interfacesused for mobile telephony. In some embodiments, the base stationsdescribed herein may support Wi-Fi air interfaces, which may include oneor more of IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac. In some embodiments, the base stationsdescribed herein may support IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), to LTE transmissionsin unlicensed frequency bands (e.g., LTE-U, Licensed Access or LA-LTE),to LTE transmissions using dynamic spectrum access (DSA), to radiotransceivers for ZigBee, Bluetooth, or other radio frequency protocols,or other air interfaces. In some embodiments, the base stationsdescribed herein may use programmable frequency filters. In someembodiments, the base stations described herein may provide access toland mobile radio (LMR)-associated radio frequency bands. In someembodiments, the base stations described herein may also support morethan one of the above radio frequency protocols, and may also supporttransmit power adjustments for some or all of the radio frequencyprotocols supported. The embodiments disclosed herein can be used with avariety of protocols so long as there are contiguous frequencybands/channels. Although the methods described assume a single-in,single-output (SISO) system, the techniques described can also beextended to multiple-in, multiple-out (MIMO) systems.

In some embodiments, the methods described can be used with 2G, 3G, 4G,5G, Wi-Fi, or multi-RAT base stations or access points. In someembodiments, the methods described could be used in a UE as well asfemto, nodeB, eNodeB, metro, or macro, as long as an API is used forcommunication between the PHY and the MAC layers.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that multiple hardware andsoftware configurations could be used depending upon the accessprotocol, backhaul protocol, duplexing scheme, or operating frequencyband by adding or replacing daughtercards to the dynamic multi-RAT node.Presently, there are radio cards that can be used for the varying radioparameters. Accordingly, the multi-RAT nodes of the present inventioncould be designed to contain as many radio cards as desired given theradio parameters of heterogeneous mesh networks within which themulti-RAT node is likely to operate. Those of skill in the art willrecognize that, to the extent an off-the shelf radio card is notavailable to accomplish transmission/reception in a particular radioparameter, a radio card capable of performing, e.g., in white spacefrequencies, would not be difficult to design.

Those of skill in the art will also recognize that hardware may embodysoftware, software may be stored in hardware as firmware, and variousmodules and/or functions may be performed or provided either as hardwareor software depending on the specific needs of a particular embodiment.

In the present disclosure, the words location and position may be usedin various instances to have the same meaning, as is common in therelevant art.

In any of the scenarios described herein, where processing may beperformed at the cell, the processing may also be performed incoordination with a cloud coordination server. The eNodeB may be incommunication with the cloud coordination server via an X2 protocolconnection, or another connection. The eNodeB may perform inter-cellcoordination via the cloud communication server, when other cells are incommunication with the cloud coordination server. The eNodeB maycommunicate with the cloud coordination server to determine whether theUE has the ability to support a handover to Wi-Fi, e.g., in aheterogeneous network.

Although the methods above are described as separate embodiments, one ofskill in the art would understand that it would be possible anddesirable to combine several of the above methods into a singleembodiment, or to combine disparate methods into a single embodiment.For example, all of the above methods could be combined. In thescenarios where multiple embodiments are described, the methods could becombined in sequential order, in various orders as necessary.

Although the above systems and methods for providing interferencemitigation are described in reference to the Long Term Evolution (LTE)standard, one of skill in the art would understand that these systemsand methods could be adapted for use with other wireless standards orversions thereof. For example, while certain methods are understood toutilize FAPI, other methods and aspects do not require the LTE SmallCell Forum FAPI or any 3GPP Release.

In some embodiments, the software needed for implementing the methodsand procedures described herein may be implemented in a high levelprocedural or an object-oriented language such as C, C++, C#, Python, orJava. The software may also be implemented in assembly language ifdesired. Packet processing implemented in a network device can includeany processing determined by the context. For example, packet processingmay involve high-level data link control (HDLC) framing, headercompression, and/or encryption. In some embodiments, software that, whenexecuted, causes a device to perform the methods described herein may bestored on a computer-readable medium such as read-only memory (ROM),programmable-read-only memory (PROM), electrically erasableprogrammable-read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, or a magnetic diskthat is readable by a general or special purpose-processing unit toperform the processes described in this document. The processors caninclude any microprocessor (single or multiple core), system on chip(SoC), microcontroller, digital signal processor (DSP), graphicsprocessing unit (GPU), or any other integrated circuit capable ofprocessing instructions such as an x86 microprocessor.

Although the present disclosure has been described and illustrated inthe foregoing example embodiments, it is understood that the presentdisclosure has been made only by way of example, and that numerouschanges in the details of implementation of the disclosure may be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure, which islimited only by the claims which follow. Various components in thedevices described herein may be added, removed, or substituted withthose having the same or similar functionality. Various steps asdescribed in the figures and specification may be added or removed fromthe processes described herein, and the steps described may be performedin an alternative order, consistent with the spirit of the invention.Features of one embodiment may be used in another embodiment. Otherembodiments are within the following claims.

1. A method, comprising: performing, in a 5G network, physical layercontrol (PHY) of a wireless signal at a Layer 1 (L1) software module;performing medium access control (MAC) of the wireless signal at a Layer2 (L2) software module; providing an application programming interfacebetween the L1 software module and the L2 software module for receivingL1 configuration messages and providing error codes to the L2 softwaremodule; receiving a L1 configuration message at a Layer 1 softwaremodule; and providing a progressively generated enhanced error code froma L1 software module to the Layer 2 (L2) software module, the enhancederror code based on progressive error checking of the received L1configuration message at the L1 software module prior to installation asa configuration for the L1 software module.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein providing the enhanced error code further comprises performingboundary range error checking of each parameter sent in the L1configuration message against an acceptable range for the eachparameter.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein providing the enhancederror code further comprises subsequently performing error checking of anumber of requested downlink (DL) or uplink (UL) protocol data units(PDUs) sent in the L1 configuration message against a supported numberof DL or UL PDUs supported by the L1 software module.
 4. The method ofclaim 3, wherein providing the enhanced error code further comprisessubsequently performing error checking of a scheduling configurationsent in the L1 configuration message against a computation capacityconstraint of the L1 software module.
 5. The method of claim 4, whereinproviding the enhanced error code further comprises subsequentlyperforming error checking of each configuration instruction sent in theL1 configuration message to identify pointer violation or memoryalignment issues.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein providing theenhanced error code further comprises subsequently performing errorchecking of calculated parameters based on parsing parameters sent inthe L1 configuration message, and of a scheduling limitation of the L1software module.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein providing theenhanced error code further comprises: performing boundary range errorchecking of each parameter sent in the L1 configuration message againstan acceptable range for the each parameter; performing error checking ofa number of requested downlink (DL) or uplink (UL) protocol data units(PDUs) sent in the L1 configuration message against a supported numberof DL or UL PDUs supported by the L1 software module; performing errorchecking of a scheduling configuration sent in the L1 configurationmessage against a computation capacity constraint of the L1 softwaremodule; performing error checking of each configuration instruction sentin the L1 configuration message to identify pointer violation or memoryalignment issues; and performing error checking of calculated parametersbased on parsing parameters sent in the L1 configuration message, and ofa scheduling limitation of the L1 software module.
 8. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising creating the enhanced error code based on aunion of multiple error checking results, thereby providing error codesreflecting a plurality of errors in the L1 configuration message.
 9. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising creating an error record in adatabase, the error record being the L1 configuration message associatedwith the enhanced error code.
 10. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising correcting a subsequent L1 configuration message based on theerror record.
 11. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing acorrected L1 configuration message in association with the error record,and substituting a subsequent L1 configuration message with thecorrected L1 configuration message prior to providing the corrected L1configuration message to the L1 software module.
 12. The method of claim1, wherein the application programming interface is a Fast ApplicationProgramming Interface (FAPI).
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the L1software module and the L2 software module are located at 5G basestation, and wherein receiving the L1 configuration message andproviding the enhanced error code are performed at the 5G base station.14. A 5G base station, comprising: a processor coupled to a radiotransceiver; a memory coupled to the processor; a Layer 1 (L1) softwaremodule, configured to execute on the processor, for providing physicallayer (PHY) capability; and a Layer 2 (L2) software module, configuredto execute on the processor, providing medium access control (MAC) layercapability, wherein the L1 software module is configured to: provide anapplication programming interface between a Layer 1 (L1) software moduleand a Layer 2 (L2) software module for receiving L1 configurationmessages and providing error codes to the L2 software module; receive aL1 configuration message at a Layer 1 software module; and provide anenhanced error code from a L1 software module to the Layer 2 (L2)software module, the enhanced error code based on progressive errorchecking of the received L1 configuration message at the L1 softwaremodule prior to installation as a configuration for the L1 softwaremodule.